Many Republican politicians are going to pay dearly for President George
W. Bush's naive and poorly thought-out transit policies. Bush's transit policy
is so outdated and badly designed that it could drive loyal Republican voters
fed up with smog, high-fuel prices and gridlock to vote for Democrats that
they loathe, simply because the Democrats are willing to build light rail
lines.

At the prodding of highway interests and self-proclaimed experts working
for highway interests the Bush Administration is pushing something called "Bus
Rapid Transit" instead of the successful and popular rail transit. Bush's
policy of promoting bus-only transit may sound great to wealthy politicos
who drive new Mercedes and don't have to punch a time clock, but it won't
appeal to ordinary Americans who are stuck in traffic in their used Toyotas
and late for work.

One politician who may learn this lesson quickly is Maryland Gov. Robert
L. Ehrlich Jr. Earlier this year, Ehrlich helped derail plans to build the
Purple Line (a light rail line in the Washington D.C. suburbs of Silver Spring
and Bethesda, Md.). Instead state transportation experts are pushing something
called the Bi-County Transitway, a bus-only line that would run along Interstate
410 (The Gazette Sept. 24, 2003, www.gazette.net).

Maryland Democrats have already come out with guns blazing and set their
sights squarely on the transitway. City Councilman Bruce Williams of Takoma
Park, Md. labeled the transitway an "unfunded mandate." He noted
that the only way buses could run through the city at the speeds needed to
provide transit service would be to provide police cars with sirens blaring
to escort the buses ("Elected officials blast transitway idea",
The Gazette, Sept. 24, 2003). Some Democrat state legislators have
gone even farther accusing Ehrlich of opposing the Purple Line because it
would cross
the tony Columbia Country Club.

By going along with Bus Rapid Transit Ehrlich and other Republicans are
playing right into the hands of the Democrats. They behave like the rich
white bad guys giving the average person the shaft for the sake of special
interest money. Maryland residents stuck in traffic on the 410 and wondering
why there isn't an alternative like the Washington Metro subway get a clear
message: The Democrats are willing to do something about transportation while
the Republicans are willing to fight for the lousy status quo because it
helps them get a few campaign contributions.

In virtually every American city where new rail transit systems have been
constructed over the past thirty years overall mass transit ridership has
increased. In many cities with rail transit, voters have been willing to
pass tax increases to pay for more rail transit. At the same time, ridership
on bus-only transit systems has fallen or remained stagnant. (See the Twelve
Anti-Transit Myths: A Conservative Critique Paul M. Weyrich and William S.
Lind Free Congress Foundation, Washington, DC 2001, for more details.)

Just one particularly horrendous example from Washington DC, should show
conservatives how terrible a policy Bus Rapid Transit is. In 1970 the Shirley
Busway (a prototypical example of Bus Rapid Transit) opened on I-90 to serve
the Pentagon, Washington, DC and Northern Virginia. Ridership on this line
fell by 70 percent in the 1980s. Yet when Washington's Metrorail opened a
new line in the same area ridership jumped by 450 percent even though the
rail service was slower and cost more than the bus service. (Twelve Anti
Transit Myths, page 18)

This example comes from a conservative and largely Republican suburban region.
The average conservative Republicans in Northern Virginia embraced rail transit
but abandoned bus transit. Nor is Northern Virginia the only area with many
conservative Republicans where average people have embraced rail transit.
The new rail systems in Salt Lake City and Denver, also areas with many Republicans,
have attracted thousands of new riders. (Twelve Anti-Transit Myths)

The facts are obvious: Rail transit is popular with voters and riders alike,
buses and Bus Rapid Transit are not. The question is, when will Republicans
wake up and see what kind of transportation the American public prefers?
I imagine it'll be when a popular and successful Republican loses his or
her seat because he or she opposed rail and tried to push Bus Rapid Transit
on voters who didn't want it in the first place.

Daniel G. Jennings is a freelance writer and journalist who lives and works
in Denver, CO. He has worked as a reporter and editor for daily and weekly
newspapers in five states.